It had been hard to
adjust to life on a spaceship. Even harder to accept that the life he
had known, the world he had known, was one he could not go back to.
And to all think that it was due to Andrew buying a cursed toy, of
all things, from a yard sale.

The boy had barged into
his office, eager to show off his find. "Look, Giles!" He
brandished the model spaceship in the air. "Look what I found for
you! You can use it as a paperweight."

Giles looked over his
glasses at him and put down the papers he was reading. "And why
would I want something like that on my desk?"

"You're always
saying you wanted some peace and quiet, right?"

"Yes. In fact, I
would like some right now." The Watcher stared at Andrew, hoping he
would get the hint.

"Really." Giles
nodded and kept the smile on his face until Andrew bounded out of the
room. He then sighed and dropped back into his chair. Picking up the
tiny ship, he studied it briefly before putting it back on the desk.
"Serenity," he muttered, hand still on the model. "If only I
could truly find it."

There was a flash and
the next thing he knew, he was sitting in the galley of a much larger
version of the model that Andrew had given him. Around him, surprised
people leapt up from their meal and pointed weapons at him.

Giles sighed and
resisted the urge to take off his glasses. His fingers clenched
around the toy ship that had traveled with him and he let his fall
with a clunk onto the table. He ignored the shouted questions
directed towards him and cursed fluently in a number of languages
under his breath.

Inara walked out of her
shuttled into the cargo bay and frowned when she saw the newest
addition to the Firefly transport's crew. Rupert Giles, the
mysterious man who had appeared in the middle of lunch the other day,
was sitting towards the bottom of the stairs and staring into space.
She made her way across the catwalk and then down, finally taking a
seat next to him. "It must be hard," she said softly, "being
ripped from your home like that."

He looked at her and
smiled sadly. "Yes, it is." He fingered the model of Serenity in
his hands. "I wonder if they'll figure out what happened to me.
They'll try to bring me back; it's only a matter of time until
they figure out how."

She reached out her
hand and placed it on top of his. The Firefly was trapped in the
middle of their three hands. "What will happen if they can't?"

"Then I suppose I
shall just have to make the best of an unfortunate situation." He
stood abruptly, causing her to look up at him with surprise. "If
you'll excuse me, I think I'll go to my room. I feel the need to
be alone right now."

Inara nodded with
understanding and watched him as he climbed the stairs and
disappeared through the doorway.

Giles entered his room
in the passenger area with a sigh. He placed the model Firefly down
on the bed and sat down next to it. "Why me?" he asked.

"Because you need
this."

Giles jumped in shock.
He stared at the girl standing in the doorway. "River?"

She walked further into
the room and kneeling, trailed a finger along the top of the Firefly.
"Serenity." She looked up at Giles and grinned. "He gave you
serenity."

"That he did."
Giles took off his glasses and squeezed the bridge of his nose. "But
I didn't want this." Involuntarily, he let out a small sob. "I
just want to go home."

"You miss them."

"They're my family.
They're hard to deal with sometimes, and impossible to understand
most of the time, but they're still my family."

"Your children."

Giles looked at River
and nodded. "Yes. They're my children."

She climbed onto the
bed and curled up against his side. Giles placed an arm around her
shoulders. She murmured something in Chinese.

Giles laughed softly,
glad that he was able to understand her Mandarin as he had not been
able to understand Chao-Ahn's Cantonese. "If you want, I suppose
I can consider you one of my children too." His hand stroked her
hair softly. "I wish you could meet them, River. They're all so
full of life; it would do you a world of good to spend some time with
them."

"They miss you too
and they're working to bring you back. They'll eventually succeed
but it won't be for a good long time."

Giles tightened his arm
around her. "I'm... sorry to hear that." He gazed down at her.
"You're a seer?"

She shook her head.
"I'm a River."

He chuckled. "Yes, I
suppose you are."

The crew looked up with
varied levels of amusement at the sight of River leading Giles into
the dining area. "Seems like you've been adopted, Mr. Giles,"
Shepard Book observed with a smile.

River shook her head as
she pushed Giles towards an open spot at the table. "Other way."
Grabbing a slice of bread, she sat next to the older man and handed
it to him. "He adopt me."

Simon looked at his
sister in shock. "What?"

Giles cleared his
throat. "Um... well, because those who I consider my children
aren't here, River kindly offered to take their place."

Kaylee grinned at
River. "Aw. That's so sweet."

"Careful we all don't
get tooth rot." Jayne grunted and shoved a spoonful of food into
his mouth.

"So, Mr. Giles,"
the captain spoke up, "Have you given any thought of what you're
going to do in this strange new land?"

"I had rather thought
that was up to you," Giles answered softly. "After all, it is
only by your mercy that I wasn't shot on sight when I first showed
up, or shoved out an airlock."

"You mentioned that
you know how to fight."

"Well, I was trained
in various fighting styles and weapons as part of my schooling."
Giles studied Mal. "Just what did you have in mind for me to do,
Captain?"

River shook her head.
"No!" She shot up from her seat. "He doesn't belong. He's
soft."

Simon grabbed hold of
her arm. "Sit down, mei mei," he said gently.

On her other side,
Giles placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's all right, River. I'm
tougher than I look."

She pouted but allowed
herself to be steered back into her chair. "May be tough before but
too soft for this world." She looked imploringly at him. "I don't
want to lose another father."

"You won't. I
promise."

"Don't make
promises you can't keep." River shoved back from the table and
fled the room.

When Simon moved to
follow, Giles shook his head and got up instead. "Let me," he
said softly. "I've had rather a lot of experience with emotional
teenage girls, believe it or not." His lips twisted wryly. He left
the galley and walked down the stairs to the passenger quarters.
River was curled up on the couch in the common area outside of the
medical bay.

"Don't fight,"
she said abruptly. "You're not a fighter. You're a reader, a
scholar. Read books like Book."

He chucked softly and
sat down next to the girl. She leaned into him, laying her head on
his shoulder. "You're wrong, River. I am a fighter—I've been
fighting all my life. I fought my father and the path he wanted me to
take. I then had to fight the darkness that I discovered inside
me—fighting the darkness outside of me was much easier,
unfortunately."

"The darkness will
swallow you up," she whispered. "Black all around and then you'll
leave me."

Giles stroked her hair.
"I can't promise I won't leave you, but I can promise you that
I won't leave you of my own accord."

She looked up at him,
her eyes dark. "You will leave," she said firmly. Her hand
cupped his cheek. "Your home's elsewhere. You're needed
there."

"I'm glad that
you're so sure of that. In the meantime, do you mind if I stick
around?"

River grinned and
jumped up from the couch, pulling him up by the hand. She ran back
up to the galley, Giles struggling to keep up. The two burst through
the doorway and Mal looked up from his meal. "Everything worked
out all nice and proper 'tween you two?" he asked.

River dropped Giles's
hand and stalked towards Mal. "He'll stay and fight, but you'll
take care of him."

Giles knew something
significant had happened when Zoe and Kaylee both looked at him with
surprise and speculation. He cleared his throat. "Thank you,"
he felt compelled to tell the captain.

Mal waved his hand
dismissively and returned his attention to his meal. "Sit down now
before Jayne eats all the food."

And just like that,
everyone lost notice of him. Giles stood there gaping at the sheer
volume of food disappearing into Jayne's mouth when River poked him
in the side. "Sit," she ordered him, pointing to the empty
chair. He sat and picked up his spoon. Before digging into the
less-than-appetizing protein meal, he glanced around at everyone and
smiled slightly.

He had no doubt that
Willow would find him eventually. But until then, he might as well
enjoy this impromptu vacation.

--fin--

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